“I am the most abused and insulted president in the world, but when I leave office you will all remember me for the total freedom you enjoyed under my government,' - Goodluck Jonathan, ex-Nigerian President.
Former President, Goodluck Jonathan
Ahmed Salkida, an investigative journalist, has been arrested several times by the Nigerian authorities because of his reports on Boko Haram. “For over four hours they ransacked our offices, requesting for the reporter who did the story about a planned military operation to retake Baga, one of the towns overrun by Boko Haram,” Daily Trust management narrated, according to a report by Amnesty International.
A journalist with the African Independent Television , Ohimai Amaize, fled Nigeria in June 2019 after people suspected to be agents of the Nigerian government allegedly threatened his life repeatedly over his TV programme which he said was seen as anti-government, according to the Amnesty report. Other cases like that of Agba Jalingo, the publisher of an online newspaper, CrossRiverWatch, who is standing trial for treason over a report on Cross River governor, Ben Ayade, stick out like a sore thumb, putting more taint on the country’s image.
There have been agitations, which often turned bloody, in Nigeria’s South-East for an independent state of Biafria. There is also the case of Dada Labinjo, a naval captain who has been detained illegally for more than one year by the Nigerian Navy. Members of Mr El-Zakzaky’s Shiite group have also been killed by Nigeria’s security forces in Abuja and other cities without anyone being prosecuted for the killings.
Des Wilson, a professor of Mass Communication, University of Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, said there is no difference between Buhari the then military dictator and Buhari as a civilian president. “We can’t keep quiet. If we do, there will be more clampdown. The current National Assembly and the executive are one, unlike what we had during Saraki and Dogara era where there was a semblance of checks and balances. They are now trying to swallow the judiciary and once that is done, there will be a total dictatorship,” Mr Akinnola said.
“Until he and his repressive regime purge themselves of their martial tendency therefore, PUNCH will not be a party to falsely adorning it with a democratic robe, hence our decision to label it for what it is – an autocratic military-style regime run by Major General Muhammadu Buhari ,” the paper said.
“For as we speak, the 1999 Constitution is a worthless and useless piece of legislation. The dictatorship we live in should be formalized because our Constitution is as good as being suspended. It prescribed the arraignment of journalists in a military tribunal, and not the conventional law court.There was another draconian law – Decree No. 2 – which gave the Buhari military government power to detain any Nigerian for up to three months without charges. The government also outlawed civil protest and workers’ strike.
“Brigadier Tunde Idiagbon, Chief of Staff, announced that the government would ensure Fela would be imprisoned for a long time, concluding: ‘and I hope he will rot in jail.’ Moreover, there were allegations that important defence witnesses, including customs officials, were prevented from testifying at Fela’s trial,” Amnesty said in the report.
The failed operation jointly carried out by Nigerian and Israeli secret service led to a diplomatic row between the Nigerian and British government.When Mr Solarin was detained by Mr Buhari’s military government in March 1984 under Decree No. 2 because of a newspaper article against the administration, Amnesty International declared the famous activist a prisoner of conscience.
“Dissatisfied, Buhari ordered his re-trial. Again, the Tribunal could not find this man guilty of a single crime, so once again he was returned for trial, only to be acquitted of all charges of corruption or abuse of office.
Nigeria Latest News, Nigeria Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Buhari mourns classmate“His passing away is a loss to all of us, his classmates, in whose hearts he had a special place.'
Read more »
Buhari orders 'crushing response' against bandits as killings escalate in Zamfara, Kaduna - Punch NewspapersThe most widely read newspaper in Nigeria
Read more »
2023 presidency: APC govs, senators behind Tinubu to succeed Buhari - Adeyanju - Daily Post NigeriaDeji Adeyanju, a popular Nigerian activist has disclosed that Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, stands a better chance
Read more »
Slash Buhari, Osinbajo, Govs, NASS members' jumbo allowances - SERAP asks court - Daily Post NigeriaThe Socio-Economic Rights and Accountability Project (SERAP) has urged an Abuja Federal High Court to slash the 'jumbo' allowances of President Muhammadu
Read more »
Slash Buhari, govs, NASS members' allowances, SERAP tells courtSERAP is arguing that “slashing jumbo pay for these high-ranking political office-holders would reduce the unfair pay disparity
Read more »
Will Buhari learn from Zuma and Estcourt prison?, By Festus AdedayoThe other lesson that the Zuma travail teaches is thatpower is like vapour which whooshes in a moment but cannot be traced the next moment.
Read more »